The Jose Mourinho era at Manchester United feels like a long time ago now but it is not easily forgotten.
Appointed in 2016, Manchester United fans believed Jose Mourinho was the man to lead the club back to the glory years under Sir Alex Ferguson.
It didn’t work out like that, sadly, with Mourinho lasting just two-and-a-half seasons. But cast your mind back to his appointment, and it was a time of optimism, especially for the players at the club at the time.
One who did not fare well initially under Mourinho was Andreas Pereira, who has admitted he was left playing catch-up from day one.
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Andreas Pereira on Jose Mourinho
Former Manchester United midfielder Andreas Pereira was handed his debut under Louis van Gaal, and played 13 times under the Dutchman.
Speaking to Five, Pereira said a less than stellar overview of his character was passed onto Mourinho, which caused some trouble for him.
Speaking about his time under Mourinho, Pereira explained how his first conversation with the boss left him shell-shocked.
Pereira said: “The first day he says, the last manager was here he says ‘you don’t listen, you don’t work hard’.
“So I was like, OK… Then he said, ‘I want to see for my own eyes’, then first week of training I said to Antonio Valencia, ‘I think I’m done, I have to seek another club.'”
Pereira then explained how Antonio Valencia’s helpful advice was to be more physical and start to ‘kick people in training’, which he took on board.
He explained: “I started smashing people in training, everyone was like ‘what is he doing?’
“I started to play as a six, he said to me after two weeks, its good I didn’t believe the other coach because they couldn’t handle you, you’re my player now. It gave me a lot of confidence.”
Jose Mourinho’s actions with Andreas Pereira spoke volumes
While Andreas Pereira put a positive spin on his initial exchanges with Jose Mourinho and how he turned it around, the manager’s actions were a little different.
Mourinho sent Pereira out on loan to Spanish side Granada in 2016/17, and then to Valencia in 2017/18.
He gave him a chance in pre-season 2018, and at the start of that season, but made him a scapegoat for an early season defeat to Brighton, and barely used him afterwards.
When Mourinho was fired in December 2018, Pereira had made only six appearances under the manager,, less than half the figure he did under Van Gaal.
Pereira did begin to rebuild his career under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, who he played for 56 times, but a low goal return of only three, saw him eventually moved aside once Bruno Fernandes was signed in January 2020.
After loans at Lazio and Flamengo, Pereira left United in summer 2022 to try and prove people wrong, and was on the winning side for Fulham at Old Trafford earlier this year.